


already seen

by zanykingmentality



Category: Oxenfree (Video Game)
Genre: Drabble, Gen, I can't believe I just stumbled into it on accident, I'm tired and I really love this game, Introspection, can be read as romantic or platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-26 15:58:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18285554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zanykingmentality/pseuds/zanykingmentality
Summary: The path is narrow and winding when Alex passes out, red static over her eyes. Jonas stumbles away and screams.





	already seen

**Author's Note:**

> hi i restarted my computer and it opened epic games and just happened to be on the page for this game. i went in totally blind and i absolutely adored it, every second, and i just want bETTER FOR MY KIDS. THEY NEED TO BE HAPPY. i am absolutely going to write a fix-it in which there's only one timeline, but for now, here's a warmup drabble i wrote at like midnight. 
> 
> unbeta-d as usual, but spellchecked, so please forgive my lingering errors!

When Alex crumples to the ground, Jonas screams. 

 

It’s not a scream to be proud of. It’s high, and his voice cracks halfway through it so he sounds like a crying whale. “Alex!” he shrieks, tumbling down with her, trying to catch her. Though Alex’s eyes aren’t open, they glow red; her mouth moves and makes sounds, but Jonas has no idea what she’s saying. 

 

It’s probably  _ that _ part that freaks him out the most, and he ends up dropping Alex onto the beaten path. 

 

Jonas thought Alex was…  _ immune _ to the red-eyed possession, that the ghosts or  _ whatever _ was messing with them all night couldn’t  _ touch _ her. It was a comforting thought; that despite everything, there would be Alex. It really endeared him to his new step-sister, even if it wasn’t certain they’d still be as much after tonight. Dying can really change relationships, you know. 

 

(Like now he has a “new mom” and that’s great, that’s fine, but she  _ is _ not and  _ will  _ not be Jonas’s mother, as much as she tries━ 

 

And maybe a part of him hopes they won’t go through with the marriage, because he likes Alex but maybe not in the way that he  _ should _ ━)

 

“Michael,” Alex breathes, and it’s almost enough to send Jonas’s mind reeling. 

 

He is not Michael. He’s not trying to be, anyway. Is not, was not, will not. But the way Alex says his name, with the kind of love and reverence you only get from having known someone and loved them your whole life ━ Jonas wonders if anyone will ever say his name like that. 

 

It’s not that he thinks no one loves him. His dad does. His mom definitely did, and maybe if she’s a ghost too she still does. But Jonas has never had any siblings, and has always been shy in the friends department. It’s not hard to imagine his life here being almost the same. In fact, he almost expects it to. That is, if he even  _ survives _ to get home. 

 

“Where’s… Jonas?” Alex murmurs. Her nonsensical muttering shouldn’t strike a chord with Jonas, but it does; even in a memory, even with Michael, she’s thinking of him. Granted, it’s probably because he was just with her, but… still. 

 

“I’m right here,” he says, out loud, knowing full well she won’t hear him. He doesn’t know how he knows that. He just does. 

 

The red of Alex’s eyelids freaks him out, but he inches closer and rests a hand on her face. Her eyebrows furrow, but she’s mostly expressionless. Like she’s asleep. All Jonas can think is, he’ll never know if something goes seriously wrong with her. And again, he doesn’t know how he knows. 

 

There are a lot of things he just knows. Like that Ren is into Nona, even before he’s said it. And that Clarissa is always playing the blame game, trying to make herself feel better. And Alex… he remembers things about Alex he shouldn’t know yet, like her interest in communications and engineering, and how good she is with machines. He remembers an amused tilt to her lips and a panicked frown. 

 

But Jonas doesn’t know why he knows all this. 

 

Finally, Alex sits up. She clutches Jonas's sleeves; he doesn't mind, because  _thank God the ghosts didn't take her while she was asleep, thank God._  

 

"I saw Michael," she says. 

 

"I know," is all Jonas can manage to say, before she collapses into him. He doesn't know how long they stay like that, only that eventually, one of them gets up and they keep going, all the way to the Adler estate gate. 

 

Strangely, he can't remember who stands first. Sometimes it's him, sometimes it's Alex. Then he thinks about time loops and wonders about how much he remembers. But honestly, he's already perfectly fine with surviving and suppressing trauma through therapy. Lord knows he's just trying to live. 

**Author's Note:**

> i... absolutely love jonas. i adore him. he's my favorite. i love u jonas


End file.
